Fried was born in Vienna, Austria-Hungary on November 11, 1864.[1] Fried left school at the age of 15 and started to work in a bookshop. In 1883 he moved to Berlin, where he opened a bookshop of his own in 1887.

Fried was a prominent member of the Esperanto-movement. In 1903 he published the book Lehrbuch der internationalen Hilfssprache Esperanto (Textbook of the International Language of Esperanto). In 1911 he received the Nobel Peace Prize together with Tobias Asser. During the First World War he lived in Switzerland. Fried died in Vienna on May 5, 1921, aged 56.